Stimulation in Geldinganes

WP5's stimulation treatment  in order to demonstrate cyclic soft stimulation is now ready to start in the well RV-43 in Geldinganes near Reykjavik, Iceland. Operational work starts with reaming / cleaning the well and a subsequent borehole logging. The stimulation begins with temperature and caliper logs followed by a borehole televiewer for inspection of potential intervals to set the packers since the proposed stimulation treatment includes zonal isolation of reservoirs sections followed by a multi-stage stimulation.

New article on harmonic pulse testing published

A new article titeled "Harmonic Pulse Testing for Well Monitoring: Application to a Fractured Geothermal Reservoir" was published in Water Resources Research by DESTRESS WP 5. It discusses Harmonic Pulse Testing (HPT) that aims to determine well and formation parameters such as wellbore storage, skin, permeability, and boundaries within the investigated volume.  The advantage is that it does not require the interruption of well and reservoir injection/production before and/or during the test because it allows the extraction of an interpretable periodic signal from measured pressure potentially affected by interference. This makes it an ideal monitoring tool. Find out more about HPT in the article.

Pohang commission publishes lessons learned

The international commission, which analyzed the magnitude 5.5 Pohang earthquake, comes to an unequivocal conclusion: the nearby geothermal project has caused the damaging event through stimulations at borehole PX2. After having delivered a detailed report at hand of the South Korean government, the commission published a comprehensive summary in Science including lessons learned.

Access the Science paper “Managing injection-induced seismic risks”

Access the commission report

Inauguration of Bedretto Lab

DESTRESS supporting the Pohang investigations

On 20 March 2019, the independent expert commission will release its report concerning the Pohang earthquake and its potential link to the nearby geothermal project. The event of magnitude 5.4 occurred on 15 November 2017, injuring about 80 people and causing damage to numerous buildings.

In August 2017, DESTRESS conducted a first soft stimulation treatment at the Pohang geothermal site. Experts from GFZ, GES, KICT, KIGAM, NexGEO, SNU, TNO, and UoG were involved. This treatment did not induce any seismic activity larger than magnitude 2.0. DESTRESS supported the seismic monitoring by the deployment of instruments. The project collected important data and has been given access to further information thanks to the partnership with the local site owner, NexGEO. However, the dataset available to DESTRESS is incomplete and less extensive than that to which the expert commission has been granted access.

Successful 4th General Assembly in Strasbourg

From 18 to 20 February 2019, DESTRESS project members met in Strasbourg, France, for the 4th General Assembly. The event was hosted by the University of Strasbourg. The programme included a workshop on the M5.4 earthquake in Pohang, South Korea, on the first day of the meeting where participants discussed results and lessons learned. A short summary of this day will be made available in the upcoming weeks. On the second and third day, the more than 50 project members presented achievements, current challenges, and discussed open questions. In the spotlight were further the upcoming activities at our new test sites in Island, Hungary, and the Netherlands.

EURO 2019 Abstract Submission now open!

The 13th EURO-Conference on Rock Physics & Geomechanics will be held in 2019 in Potsdam, Germany. The overarching theme of the conference, “Rock fracturing and fault activation: experiments and models”, will provide a unique opportunity for international researchers and industry experts to discuss recent results and developments of rock fracturing and fault activation experiments, at laboratory, mine, and field scale, as well as related modeling efforts.

Abstract submission opened on 1 December 2018 and is still open until 15 April 2019. Find more information here.

DESTRESS at EGPD

The European Geothermal PhD day (EGPD) is intended to connect PhD researchers from all over Europe working in the field of geothermal energy and will celebrate its 10th anniversary at its original host institution, the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), Potsdam. Every year, between 50-80 young scientists from various research fields such as geology, geochemistry, rock mechanics, geophysics and mechanical engineering come together to share knowledge and experience on this promising energy resource.

Ready to start soft stimulation in Mezőberény

Sad news from Glasgow

Paul Younger, one of the initiators of DESTRESS, passed away last week-end. He died after serious illness peacefully surrounded by his family. Paul will remain in the memory of all DESTRESS members, not only because he was the one who defined the acronym of our project. His death is a big loss and we will miss Paul at many fronts. Our thoughts are with his wife and family.

In-situ stress estimation in geothermal reservoirs

The ability to estimate stresses in deep boreholes is limited because collecting data is challenging in these depths. Thus, it is desirable to combine various stress measurement methods and follow a set of steps to construct a reliable rock stress model. The new DESTRESS report presents best practices for estimating in-situ stress in geothermal reservoirs.

Geothermal reservoir characterization and well testing

After drilling a geothermal well into a reservoir, one needs to characterize its properties and assess the well properties. This knowledge is essential for efficient and fast decisions, for example to configure soft stimulation treatments, as well as for the design of surface facilities. Read more in our latest best practice report.

Logging programme in Soultz-sous-Forêts

In the framework of work package 4.3, which is dedicated to the realization of chemical injection tests into well GPK4 in Soultz-sous-Forêts, a logging programme has been designed to characterize the status of both the cased and the open-hole sections of the well, prior to any injection. The following measurements will be performed: casing integrity (diameter, thickness) and flow logs in the cased and open-hole sections (observation of potential leaks in the casing and main flow inlets/outlets in the open-hole). The operations, planned to start at the end of January, should help to properly design the future chemical injection.

Magnitude 5.4 earthquake in South Korea

On 15 November 2017 at 05.29 UTC (14.29 local time) an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 occurred near Pohang in South Korea. This earthquake is the second-largest on record in Korea after the magnitude 5.8 Gyeongju event, which occurred in 2016, 40 km from Pohang. It triggered numerous aftershocks in the following months.

There may be concerns regarding a connection between the recent earthquake and the nearby Pohang geothermal project due to the close proximity and shallow depth of the earthquake. Analysis is underway regarding the injection activities in the two deep boreholes (4.3 km and 4.2 km) at Pohang.

Following the three previous hydraulic stimulations at this site, the DESTRESS team, composed of international experts, conducted hydraulic stimulation (soft stimulation as we call it) in August 2017, followed by flowback of 100% of the injected water (see the DESTRESS newsletter). This treatment did not induce any seismic activity larger than magnitude 2.0. It was followed by additional injections, which ended on 18 September, two months before the recent Pohang earthquake. No larger seismic events were observed during this treatment, either.

Nonetheless, the DESTRESS team is willing to collaborate with Korean partners and authorities to investigate the possible link between the 15 November earthquake and the previous injection activities at Pohang.

Drilling in Westland (NL) started

On 6 November drilling started in Trias Westland. It will be the deepest ever performed drilling in the Netherlands. Based on a daily advance of 50 meters per day, the Buntsandstein reservoir should be reached around Christmas. Read more

Harmonic Pulse Testing as a Monitoring Tool for Enhanced Geothermal Systems

Harmonic pulse testing is a technology that has similar capabilities as regular well testing. It intends to determine hydraulic parameters such as transmissivity, wellbore storage, skin and storativity. In comparison to well testing, pulse testing has some important advantages: the deployment is simple, it can be performed during ongoing operations and it can be used as a monitoring tool. Read more on pulse testing in our best practice report.

How to Drill and Operate a Well?

Drilling a well is more than just boring into the ground. A well designer must know before drilling what is expected from the wellbore in order to determine for example its hole size diameter or possible stabilization measures. Therefore, our fourth best practice report presents a guideline to successfully drilling and operation wells. Read the full report here.

Best Practice Report: the Importance of Geo- and Hydrochemistry

To successfully run a geothermal plant, it is crucial to know how fluids, rock minerals and gases interact in the underground. A poor understanding of those processes can result in corrosion of plant, clogging of wells and reservoirs and may even cause environmental problems. Our new best practice report deals with the question how to design a geo- and hydrochemical sampling campaign for a geothermal programme. Read the full report here.

Best Practices for Risk Assessment in Geothermal Projects

The long timeline of a geothermal project with the drilling, construction and operation phase poses numerous risks such as legislation, accidents and public acceptance. Therefore, risks should already be assessed in the beginning of a project. Key to a reliable risk assessment are expert interviews or, wherever available, historical data. Our new best practice report deals in more detail with the topic risk assessment.

13th EURO-Conference on Rock Physics and Geomechanics - The Guéguen Conference

The 13th EURO-Conference on Rock Physics and Geomechanics - The Guéguen Conference will take place from 2 - 6 September 2019 in Potsdam, Germany. The overarching theme of the conference, “Rock fracturing and fault activation: experiments and models”, will provide a unique opportunity for international researchers and industry experts to discuss recent results and developments of rock fracturing and fault activation experiments, at laboratory, mine, and field scale, as well as related modeling efforts. Registration is still open until 15 July 2019. Find more information here.

First EAGE/IGA/DGMK Joint Workshop on Deep Geothermal Energy

This workshop that aims to investigate geothermal energy’s current and future role in the energy transition and is organized by members of the geothermal industry and the oil and gas industry will be held between 08 - 09 November 2018 in Strasbourg, France.
The workshop calls for abstracts on a variety of topics that can be found here. Abstracts can be submitted until 30 September 2018.

Find detailled information here.

6th European Geothermal Workshop 

This year's EGW will be held in Strasbourg, France on October 10 and 12, 2018. For more information, including the workshop programme, please visit their website. The deadline for registration and abstract submission is September 21, 2018. You can register for the workshop here. Conference details (including location, access information, and field trip details) will be sent to all participants once registration has closed.

Join our Mid-Term Conference in Glasgow

DESTRESS will meet in Glasgow for its midterm conference this spring. If you would like to join us, please register yourself here until 21 March 2018. The participation is free of charge. Read more.